Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere (I couldn't find it), but I'm curious if the Kindle is sturdier than the Reader. I'm a bit of a clutz and have broken a Reader screen twice (thank goodness I got the accidental damage handling on my second one!), so now I'm looking at the Kindle which LOOKS a lot sturdier. Plus, Amazon has such good customer service that they may be much nicer about screen issues...

All eInks screen have a thin glass substrate beneath the plastic screen, and do need to be treated with a moderate amount of care. A simple drop generally does no harm - what will break the screen is applying severe pressure to a single point on the screen.

did you watch the 30" drop video on Amazon's Kindle page? I am kinda sold it's tough...

I've dropped my PRS500, twice, from about 4 feet onto tile floors, it's still ticking. There's an account in the forum of someone losing his off the top of his car at 25 mph, and it surviving with mostly cosmetic damage. It depends a lot on how they hit. I suspect that there are ways to drop a Kindle, or any of these devices for that matter, from as little as 12 inches and totally disable them, but they're probably very specific ways.

It depends a lot on how they hit. I suspect that there are ways to drop a Kindle, or any of these devices for that matter, from as little as 12 inches and totally disable them, but they're probably very specific ways.

I guess I managed those specific ways... Actually, I'm very annoyed about the first one that broke--I had it in my backpack while traveling and judging by the way the cracks radiate out, the stupid star-shaped thing holding the cover on to the reader got pressed in and broke the screen. The second time, it looks like I dropped it right on a corner (the screen is only not working in that corner).

Anyone hear anything about Amazon's kindle screen policy? I went ahead and ordered mine yesterday--the wireless downloads and subscriptions are the clincher for me.

I would classify both my Sony 500 and Kindle in the same category of "fragile electronic device" and wouldn't want to drop or whack either one against something hard or pointy. I don't really feel a need to be more gentile with the Kindle, but then I tend to take very good care of things to begin with.

I don't think the Kindle is any more strudy than the Sony though. It's probably identical with respect to the screen, and may have potential issues with the buttons breaking off in the case of trauma to the unit (nobody has reported any such problem yet that I've seen).

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere (I couldn't find it), but I'm curious if the Kindle is sturdier than the Reader. I'm a bit of a clutz and have broken a Reader screen twice (thank goodness I got the accidental damage handling on my second one!), so now I'm looking at the Kindle which LOOKS a lot sturdier. Plus, Amazon has such good customer service that they may be much nicer about screen issues...

-Erica

I accidentally dropped my Kindle on a natural stone floor and it still works, and has no discernible damage. It didn't land on the screen--I think it landed on one of the corners--it wasn't in the cover at the time I dropped it.

I don't think any of us really have enough experience with both to judge and I've never seen a head-to-head testing of durability. It would be an expensive test. There are people on the board that own both but I think they try to be cautious with them. I'm with Harry on this one. The screen is the same on both of them and it's the weak spot. The Kindle case may offer superior protection from some injuries, the Sony, Cybook, etc. cases from others. In general their aren't many gadgets out there of any ilk that can take real abuse.

It's a fragile device and needs to be handled with care. It should be treated as a thin piece of glass. IMO
It will probably survive a drop, but don't put it in any situation where the screen might possibly have pressure applied to it. I've already broken the screen on my kindle, and I have been EXTRA careful with the replacement.